Assigitob to  metals



tion of Minerals; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de- CLEMENT Lrruwo'on PERKINS, or rirrseunen, rnnusirtvanra, asi'srenoa'ro' iriuratsnncovi nr cor/runn or new roan, n. ;Y., a couronarrou' or name I rno rarrouj or remnants.

No Drawing.

State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Flotascription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art-to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the concentration of minerals, such as sulfid ores and the like I .(for example, chalco-pyrite wtih a silicious ganfgue) by flotation, and is based upon the discovery that improved results can be ob tained by carrying out the flotation opera tion with the addition to the ore or mineral pulp'of quinolin, either alone, or with the addition of other agents promoting the fiotation. It is not necessary that chemically pure quinoli-n be used, but the commercial product can be used in its crude unrefined state.

In using the quinolin, which is a liquid, it may be added to theore either alone or in admixture with other agents promoting the flotation, in any suitable manner, so that it will be thoroughly and uniformly distributed throughout the ore pulp. The mixture is then subjected to a flotation operation as in an ordinary Callow cell or in apparatus where the air is incorporated in the ore pulp by mechanical agitation. With some ore pulps it may be desirable to add either small amounts of acids or of alkalis, depending upon thenature of the ore pulp to be treated, but it will be evident that if the ore lin during pulp contains free acid, or if acid is preliminarily added thereto, the free acid should not be present to any such extent as would prejudice or destroy the efi'ect of the quincthe flotation operation. The amount of quinolin used may vary some what, for example, between one-half pound or less and one and one-half pounds'per ton i of ore (that is, calculated on the weight of the ore and not on the weight of the ore It is characteristic of the invention that the froth obtained is readily broken up,

so that any quinolin' recoverable from the froth maybe used in the treatment of fur-. ther amounts of ore. That is to say, the circuit'water recovered from the concentrate and even that recovered from the tailings contain notable amounts of. the quinolinwhich can be thusretuined to the process with resulting economy in the amount required to be used for subsequent operations.

The quinolin may be used alone to promote the flotation operation and high grades of concentrates obtained; and the resulting concentrates can be much moreeasily sepa-- rated by filtration than the common concen' tra'tes obtained by the use of oil as the flotation agent. The action of the .quinolin may,

however, be modified by adding other agents (such as oils or non-oleaginous agents) which promote the flotation and which do j not prejudicially affect the action of the quinolin.

In applying the quinolin, it may be intro-- duced intothe tube millin which the ore-is being ground, or it. may be otherwise introduced into the ore pulp in any suitable way,

as, for instance, by introducing it into the ore pulp directly into the flotation cell or just before it enters the fiotaton cell.

'Whatl claim is:' -1. The method ofefi'ecting the concentration of minerals by flotation, which comprises adding tothe mineral pulp a smallamount of quinolin, and subjecting the re sulting mixture to a flotationoperatlon; substantially as described.

2'. The method of efiecting the concentration of minerals by flotation, which comprises adding to the mineral pulp a small amount. of quinolin and other. agents promoting the flotation, and subjecting the resulting mixture to a flotation operation; sub-I stantially as described.

3. The method of efl'ecting the concentration of minerals by flotation, which comprises adding to the mineral'pulp a small amount of quinolin and of oil, and subjecting the resulting mixture to a flotation operation; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature,

CLEMENT LTNWOUD PERKINS. 

